Kill Cliff Launches Endurance Line – “Kill Cliff Endure”

Fitness recovery drink Kill Cliff today announced the launch of Kill Cliff Endure, a two-SKU subline aimed at supporting hydration and performance during exercise. The line will be available exclusively at the brand’s fitness account partners for its initial rollout.

Speaking with BevNET, CEO Joe Driscoll explained that product development for Endure began in April when the brand invited some of its sponsored athletes to test out the new line and offer feedback. The drink was later introduced at the Granite Games, a multisport competition the company sponsors, to solicit more input from users. According to Driscoll, launching Endure as a fitness account exclusive fits with the brand’s plan to continue refining the formulation based on consumer response over the coming months.

“Since Kill Cliff started there — we built our business selling to independent gyms — we decided this innovation we are bringing right back there to start with,” said Driscoll. “On the label, it says ‘Endure 1.0,’ with a URL for people to continue to go give us feedback to help us optimize as we go forward.”

Endure represents a progression for Kill Cliff as a fitness-based brand platform. The line, which contains 110 calories per 20 oz. bottle, is the company’s second non-carbonated drink, following the release of a since-discontinued cold brew coffee variety in 2015. Endure will launch in two SKUs — Berry Punch and Blood Orange — containing 470mg of potassium and 24g of sugar, as well as palatinose, a proprietary slow-release carbohydrate that the company says delivers sustained endurance. Describing the liquid as lightly flavored and “chuggable,” Driscoll said that Endure gives Kill Cliff a product that consumers can use before and during exercise, complementing the brand’s flagship recovery drink as part of a complete line of fitness oriented beverages.

“We are typically in 3,000 to 4,000 gyms that we are reaching out to who already buy Kill Cliff recovery drinks and we are introducing this to them first,” said Driscoll, noting that Endure will be part of the natural functional beverage set when it arrives at grocery retailers. “[Fitness enthusiasts] are a loyal base of customers, but this also completes the line. It’s an incremental usage occasion and a need that members of these gyms have that we are fulfilling.”

After the initial run through gyms and fitness centers, Driscoll said Kill Cliff is aiming to introduce Endure to mainstream retail partners sometime in mid 2018, at which point he hopes to have cultivated more feedback on how to optimize the product for conventional launch. To complement the core base of CrossFit studios and independent gyms, larger chains, such as Lifetime Fitness and Gold’s Gym, have been integrated into its distribution network.

“There are people pursuing all styles of fitness that can use this product,” Driscoll said.